How to Start a Successful Pest Control Company
Do you have a dream of owning and operating a successful pest control company? Click here for a handy guide on how to get started.
Most homeowners agree that you should hire pest control services at least once every season, if not more depending on where you live.
If you’re looking to start a pest control company, you’ve got a built-in base of homeowners who will need your services all year long. To make sure that you start a successful company, you’re going to need to do some extra work.
Follow these 4 tips to make sure your exterminator business is successful from day one.
1. Check For Competitors
Before you even consider starting a pest control business, you need to do what any smart business person would do and research the competition. There are likely a few businesses in your region who are already offering pest control services. Get to know everything you can about them.
You should call up competitors or look at their websites to see which areas they serve. In all likelihood, they are leaving some territory nearby vulnerable and so that’s where you should concentrate your attention. Get to know what precise services they offer so that you can differentiate yourself.
If the other pest control businesses in your region have a blog, take a look through for more insight into their style. You don’t want to be in direct competition with anyone who already has a stake in the ground. You’ll be fighting an uphill battle just to get clients.
Another way to research your competitors is to look at review sites. See what people are saying after they work with your potential competitors. If they don’t seem to think that the other pest control companies are very personable, that could be how you start to differentiate yourself.
2. Find Your Niche
Pest control businesses are one of those businesses, like plumbers and electricians, where it’s the small details that make clients choose you over the others. A better-designed website, a clever name, and being the closest one who can do the job matters. While you might be able to win over some clients that are already working with your competitors, you should focus on finding your own niche.
You need to take up space that your competitors have skipped over. If they don’t offer comprehensive care for all types of pets, your niche could be the pests that they overlook. If they’re not worried about rodents, become the rodent control company in your area.
If you find that no one in your region is offering natural pest control solutions, that could be how you make space for yourself. Green and eco-friendly businesses are doing really well in the climate-changed world. Since people want to know that the money they spend isn’t contributing to the degradation of the planet, you could be the answer they’re looking for.
You could find a niche by working in areas or in types of properties that your competitors overlook. By taking on commercial properties more than residential, or vice versa, you could take on an untapped market that other companies aren’t prepared for.
3. Branding is Important
The way you brand yourself is how you present yourself to the world. It’s how people remember you and in an industry where people don’t know much about how things work, it can be your one leg up on the competition. Your branding might be the difference between blowing away the competition or not.
Pest control companies take on all kinds of clever marketing tactics like bug-shaped vehicles or clever logos. Hire a professional design company to make sure that you stand out from the rest. This termite control company can show you what you need to do when it comes to clever branding.
A simple and memorable logo will stick in peoples’ minds. Have a simple name that describes what you do or where you’re located. It might seem generic to name yourself “Springfield pest control” until you take a look at what people are Googling to find a business like yours.
Make sure that your employees all have clean and crisp uniforms. Your clients will be judging your business from top to bottom, from the moment your specialist shows up at the door. If they see someone who doesn’t dress professionally, they can still say “no thanks” and refuse your service.
4. You Need a Web Presence
Given that half of small businesses still don’t have a website, having any web presence at all is an advantage that can set you apart. If you haven’t built a website yet, call up a web designer to see what they can offer.
If you decide to design it on your own, make sure that you start with your mobile-optimized version first. It’s much easier to make a mobile-optimized site look good on a desktop than vice versa. Since most of your clientele will be searching for info about your company on their phones, it’s the best place to start.
You need to also make sure that you’re on every social media channel. You’ll need a Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter presence. While you might not need to post to them very often, they can be useful in spreading the word about your products and services.
Every season brings with it different pest control needs. You can meet offer deals on those needs to stay ahead of your competition. Twitter and Instagram are great platforms for getting the word out.
Now Get Your Pest Control Company Together
The next steps to starting a pest control company are all of the most practical tasks, including hiring staff, putting together your office, and buying equipment. Now that you know what your niche is and who you’ll be serving, you can make more informed decisions about what to get. If you’re just starting out, you can implement elements of a virtual office until you have enough clients for full-time staff.
If this is your first time being self-employed, follow our guide to ensure that you stay on track while you build your pest control business.
